1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a video monitor, such as that used to receive and display photographic images that are downloaded from a compatible image source, and to a standard picture frame that is detachably connected to the front of the video monitor to enhance the aesthetic appearance thereof so as to match the surroundings in which the monitor will be stationed.
2. Background Art
Video monitors are well known computer peripherals at which computer generated images, and the like, can be displayed. In one case, a video monitor can be interfaced with a personal computer, a digital camera or a suitable memory card reader to display digital photographic images. Such a video monitor would often be placed on a desk or a shelf in a home or office. However, the typical monitor is manufactured from plastic which is often drab in appearance. Such a drab appearance may not blend well with the motif in which the home or office has been decorated.
Instead of having the original appearance of the monitor stand out, it may be desirable to enhance the appearance and/or disguise the monitor so as to make it look like a standard picture frame. Accordingly, the photographic images being displayed by the monitor would look like photographs or pictures of the kind that are usually surrounded by a picture frame. In this way, the aesthetics of the monitor can be changed to better match the surroundings of the home or office in which the monitor will be used.
A video monitor is disclosed to which a standard picture frame can be detachably connected to improve the aesthetic appearance of the monitor so as to match the surroundings of a home or office in which the monitor will be stationed. The standard picture frame to be detachably connected to the monitor is of the kind having a rectangular border that surrounds a central open window through which a photograph would otherwise be visible. An existing peripheral groove within which the photograph would be retained is formed in the border so as to extend around the open window. The video monitor includes a hollow shell within which a conventional digital display is enclosed and a rectangular picture frame mount which projects outwardly from the front of the monitor to surround the display and accommodate the picture frame. In the assembled relationship, with the picture frame attached to the video monitor, the frame will lie in surrounding engagement with the picture frame mount at the front of the monitor, whereby the digital display will be visible through the central window of the picture frame.
According to a first embodiment, a pair of locking latches are slidable through the hollow shell at opposite sides of the picture frame mount at the front of the video monitor. The latches are disposed so as to receive a manual pushing force thereagainst to cause the latches to slide through the hollow shell of the video monitor and towards the picture frame from an unlocked position, where the frame is detached from the monitor, to a locked position, where the frame and the monitor are attached to one another. In the locked position, locking fingers that extend from the locking latches are moved through respective openings in opposite sides of the picture frame mount for receipt by the existing peripheral groove in the border at opposite sides of the picture frame.
According to a second embodiment, a pair of stationary locking tabs project outwardly from the hollow shell of the video monitor through respective openings formed in one side of the picture frame mount. A pivotal locking latch is supported for rotation within the hollow shell at the opposite side of the picture frame mount. The stationary locking tabs projecting outwardly from the picture frame mount are aligned for receipt within the existing groove in the border at one side of the picture frame. The pivotal locking latch is disposed so as to receive a manual pushing force thereagainst to cause the latch to rotate within the hollow shell of the video monitor and towards the picture frame from an unlocked position, where the frame is detached from the monitor, to a locked position, where the frame and the monitor are attached to one another. In the locked position, a locking finger that extends from the pivotal locking latch is moved through an opening formed in the opposite side of the picture frame mount for receipt by the existing groove in the border at the opposite side of the picture frame.